Cuban-Style Black Beans and Rice

Cuban-Style Black Beans and Rice

I found this great recipe on WholeFoodsMarket.com. You can link to it here, but I will go ahead and reprint it here for your convenience.

Try this easy-to-follow recipe and enjoy one of Cuba’s most famous plates. Full of protein and flavor, Cuban-style black beans serve as a meal in themselves, or as a delicious side dish. By dry roasting the brown rice, you will enhance its flavor and increase its natural sweetness. (As a side note, I’ve read that dry roasting rice changes the composition of the rice so that your body uses it as a protein instead of a starch. I dry roast a big bag of rice and store it in a glass jar with a lid and just use as needed.)

Serve as a main course or side dish.

Place in a strainer and rinse under cool running water:

2 cups brown rice

Heat a stainless steel or cast iron skillet over low heat and add rice. Dry roast the rice for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is dry and aromatic.

Place the roasted rice in a pot. Add:

4 cups water

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Then lower heat and simmer for 1 hour, or until the water is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat. For fluffier rice, after the rice comes to a boil, place it in a covered casserole dish and place in a preheated 225°F oven for one hour.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium high heat. When pan is hot, add: